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Wednesday, December 7, 2016

How in the world are you almost one baby girl?! While I try to figure out where this last year went, here's your eleven month update!

Just today (December 7th, 2016) you finally signed please when I asked you to say please for some more breakfast!

You will occasionally say "hi dad" but only when you're in the mood for it. 😆

You shake your head "no" at us when you don't want something we're trying to give you.

Little by little you're getting more brave with walking while holding onto things.

You still only have your two bottom teeth. That's it! By this age Kennedy had five teeth with a sixth one on the way! I think your top ones are close to coming in, but we shall see...

You blow kisses and it's so darn cute. 😘

A couple of times I've gotten you to clap when we start to sing "patty cake."

Your sassiness continues to shine through. For example, you get mad at Kennedy when she takes something from you and/or you squawk at her to let her know it's not okay and to get my attention to help referee the situation. 😂

That being said, y'all are starting to play better together! I put you down on the floor as I was checking out our books at the library today and you started crawling away, at which point Kennedy decided to chase you on all fours and y'all were both cracking up SO hard. That was a moment that I want to etch in my memory for forever.

You and your sister make life a little crazy at times, but then y'all go and do something really cute and funny (like you did today 👆🏼) which makes us slow down and soak in the goodness that y'all bring into our lives each and everyday.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Finnley Joan at 10 months:

You've started waving! It's seriously the cutest thing. Melting hearts left and right. Even if we say the word hi without waving at you you still wave! 🤗

You have 2 little teeth on the bottom! They've really come in now and just the other day Kennedy was "helping" you eat and she exclaimed "Mom! Finnley has teeth!" She seriously was so excited for you. And today in the car she said "Ow!" And when I asked what was wrong she said, "I put my finger in Finnley's mouth and she bit me!" 😂You have started to look at your dad and day "da" and just today it sounded like you tried to say "hi dad" when your dad told you to say it! Too cute.

You are a really good eater, but at times you tend to have a problem with mixed textures. For example, when we feed you yogurt that has little bit of fruit in it you will eat the yogurt no problem, but if you are given a bite with fruit in it you somehow eat the yogurt and then push the little piece of fruit out with your tongue!

You are fitting into some 12 month clothes already, but you're still pretty petite. However, you're definitely getting heavier to carry around so I know you're growing and gaining weight!

You've already learned how to drink out of a straw and eat food out of the little baby food squeeze pouches, which is SO awesome for us because we're pretty sure Kennedy didn't learn to do that until she was well over a year old. 😬 I bought some of these ReSqueeze pouches so we could fill them with some baby food/apple sauce instead of having to buy the one time use ones and it has been SO great! I'd definitely recommend them. Even Kennedy has loved having some applesauce in them, which is such a quick, healthy and easy snack for y'all when we're on the go.

You are currently living in your third home in your short 10 months of life and our move to Louisiana will make it your 4th in just under a year. Not sure if that's something to be proud of or what, but it has to be a record! 🙃

We're definitely starting to see your little independent and sassy side come out these days too. Whenever Kennedy is loving on you a little too rough, takes something away from you, or starts playing with something you're already playing with you start yelling at her and waving your arms at her. And when I tear your food (i.e. a waffle) into little pieces for you to feed to yourself but leave the bigger piece within eyesight, you get mad until I give you the big piece to hold onto and dust the little pieces onto the floor! Such a stinker. But we'll still keep you.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

For family night a couple of weeks ago we carved a pumpkin and had some caramel apple suckers. Kennedy just couldn't stop talking about how much she loved the "guts" of the pumpkin and how much fun she had scooping them out!

Holidays with her are getting to be SO fun! She's going to be a "nice" witch for Halloween (her words) so stay tuned for the cute, nice witch and her little black cat! 🐱 🎃 👻

Thursday, September 22, 2016

In order to do the 10 month old update I need to post your 9 month update first! 😳

Finnley Joan at 9 months old:

At your check up you weighed 15.59lbs which puts you in the 4% for your weight. And your length was 26.54in which put you in the 15% for your length. Your head circumference was 16.9in which put you in the 19% for that. Still itty bitty but still growing consistently!

Your two little bottom teeth were just under the gums for so long and they finally popped through the gums just before you turned 10 months, so I'm calling that a 9 month milestone.

You are doing somewhat better at walking when we hold your little hands, but you just squat down and prefer to crawl.

You have learned to crawl up the stairs, but we're still working on teaching you how to come down them safely so that you don't just go rolling down them. Which hasn't happened yet, and hopefully it doesn't, but I learned with Kennedy it's kinda inevitable when there's stairs around!

And you're starting to follow Kennedy around more and more to sabotage her playing and/or attempt to play with her, which is cute and funny to us, but Kennedy gets a little irritated. 😂You like to mimic a lot of the noises we make towards you with your current favorites being fake coughing, blowing raspberries and moving your whole fist over your mouth as you make a constant "ahhhhh" noise. You also have learned to put a cup, bowl, toilet paper roll etc. up to your mouth and say "ahhhh" into it to make a funny noise and it's pretty entertaining for you and for us!

We sure love the joy and curiosity you bring into our home these days baby girl! And we're so glad you're a part of our forever family. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 💋

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Oh Kennedy Lou, where have the past three years gone?! You are growing up into such a spunky, intelligent, driven and beautiful little girl! You are becoming even more independent than before, which I wasn't sure was possible, but I'm learning to embrace it and let go a little bit to give you the freedom and autonomy you crave.

For your third birthday you wanted an Ariel birthday, so we gave you just that! You had Ariel balloons, a shirt, a necklace, a cake and you even watched The Little Mermaid (which is called Ariel according to you) and we just made the day all about you! We sure love you and the presence you are in our little family. You are destined to do great things, I just know it!

Thanks for choosing us as your parents - you're truly such a gift to us.

Monday, August 22, 2016

You have become so good at pulling yourself up to standing! I'm proud of you for doing so, but now you can reach even more things than you could before which means more baby proofing... 🙃

You are still such a "go with the flow" kinda girl and it could be because you're the second child and you just have to, or it could be that it's your personality. I think it's probably a combination of the two!

You've started to become entertained with toys for a longer period of time, which has been so nice for this momma! 🙌🏼

I swear you said "mama" while crawling up to me the other day and I have witnesses to vouch for me (since I know your dad won't believe me).

You know that when we sit you in your high chair that it's time to eat and you get super excited! But once you're done eating you start to swat your hand at whatever we're trying to give you and close your mouth and turn your hand. And then you get mad until we let you down because you're ready to go and play!

This age is definitely one of my favorites since you are still so sweet and can't sass me yet, but you are also becoming more social.

Friday, July 22, 2016

Finnley at seven months old:

You are officially crawling! Which has also led to you being up to sit up all by yourself.

This new skill has led to you getting into things you shouldn't so we've had to start shutting doors and keeping a close eye on you. Kennedy is actually a pretty good helper when it comes to this, so that's been nice!

Monday, July 18, 2016

Finnley is seven months old today, so I've got to hurry and post her six month picture and update before I post the seven month one!

Finnley Joan at 6 months old:You've figured out how to army crawl! Baby proofing here we come.You do this really funny little dinosaur screech noise when you're excited and what's even more funny about this is that we all start doing it back to you and pretty soon we all sound like a little dinosaur pack. Haha! :)At your 6 month check-up you weighed 15 pounds, which puts you in the 29% for your weight. You're 24.6 inches long which puts you in the 13% for your length and your head circumference is 16.5 inches which puts you in the 36%.So far you've had some broccoli, carrots, applesauce, avocado, tomato, banana, peach, watermelon, cantaloupe, beef roast, shredded chicken and little apple/broccoli puffs. You love to sit at the table with us for meals and start to fuss when you want more food. But I get it, I get impatient when I'm hungry too. ;) You can kinda sit up on your own, but often times you start to tip over to the side so we're working on that. You're definitely starting to recognize your name because when any of us say Finnley or Finn you turn to see who's talking to you, which is pretty neat and cute!I haven't been using the solly baby wrap with you as much since you were starting to arch your back and/or try to turn around and see what was going on around you, so I've started using my ergobabyinstead and it has been so nice to have a carrier that works for us!You are still such a happy-go-lucky baby. Maybe that's just what happens when you're not the first child in a family, but it seriously has been amazing at how "go with the flow" you are. As long as you're well fed and rested you're happy to tag along anywhere.I sure hope these next 6 months slow down a little bit because I adore the lovable, squishy and happy little baby that you are and I sometimes wish you could stay this way for forever!

Monday, June 20, 2016

This past weekend we went camping in Kanab and it was so fun! Cole signed up for a 10k that started early Saturday morning (and ended up getting third in his age division!!), so we figured it made the most sense to go down Friday and camp so that we didn't have to get up at 4am to drive down there. This was actually our first time camping in southern Utah (kinda depressing, we know) and I wasn't quite prepared for how much red sand there was, but Kennedy absolutely loved playing in it and she was so excited about sleeping in her sleeping bag and in the tent. Finnley on the other hand did pretty good, except for the fact that she woke up just about every hour throughout the night. Needless to say, we were exhausted when we got home on Saturday. We all ended napping for about 3 hours once we were home and showered! Next time I know not to pack white/light colored clothing for any of us and I'm going to start researching (aka googling) "how to get your baby to sleep better when camping." And by all means, if you have any tips send them my way!

Friday, June 17, 2016

Lately I've been trying really hard to cook more of our meals since it's healthier and a lot cheaper and these oven fajitashave easily become a family favorite! So yummy, healthy and easy. That's my kinda cooking! I also have been working on compiling a list of our family favorites so that I can plan out my meals in advance to make sure I have all ingredients on hand when it's time to start cooking and I have loved how much less stress I've felt since I don't just stare at our groceries and try to figure out what the heck I'm gonna cook. And my good friend Laceyand the Food Nanny are the ones I have to thank for this process! As a result of my goal of cooking more, that means there's more time that the girls need to be entertained, but there was one particular day that I looked up and Kennedy was also "cooking" and "feeding" Finnley. It was just the cutest thing!I sure love being a mom to these two sweet girls. They both have stretched me and pushed me out of my comfort zone in so many ways for the better.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Our sweet baby girl has been up to so much this past month! Finnley Joan at 5 months old:

You are moving around like crazy without actually doing any kind of crawling! I'll put you down in the floor with some toys on a blanket and next thing I know you're at least 2-3 feet away and whining because you can't reach any of your toys. One time your Sophie the giraffe toy was stuck under the ottoman and you were working so hard to try and get it out from underneath it.

You can roll from your back to your stomach! You did this for the first time this past Saturday (June 11th) while we were all laying in the living room floor playing and we all cheered you on as we noticed you were getting ready to do it.

You have LOVED chewing on a big slice of an apple the past week or so, which has made me feel like a rebel since you're not quite 6 months old, but it seriously works like magic for you to have that while I'm making dinner or cleaning up the house and need you to be content for a bit. You get super mad when you drop it, but luckily your big sister is always watching out for you and is quick to grab it and hand it back to you when she's around.

I've also let you gnaw on a chunk of watermelon and a banana that I was eating, which you didn't like quite as much as the apple slice, but you still seemed to enjoy it a little bit.

You've finally started sleeping more at night (hallelujah)! I remember when Kennedy was about your age we moved her out of our bed and into her own and that seemed to help her sleep better at night since we weren't moving around in bed and waking her up, so I tried that with you, but it just wasn't happening, so we've moved you to your crib and into Kennedy's room and Kennedy's bed is now in our room until you really get this sleeping thing down. There has been a little bit of protest on your end throughout this "sleep training" business, but I can definitely tell you are a happier baby now that you're getting more sleep at night and your naps have been a lot better too, so as a whole, we are all getting more sleep which is something we desperately needed. So thanks for that! :)

You growl sometimes and it's hilarious! The first time I heard you do this, you were laying in your crib where I thought you were taking a nap and I heard this crazy growling sound and wasn't sure what the heck it was, but then when you did it again I realized that crazy noise was coming from you!You are wearing a variety of sizes in clothing. Your pajamas are 6-12 months, you can still fit your onesies that say 3 months, some 3-6 month rompers and 3 month skirts.And your eyes are still a gorgeous blue-green just like your dad and big sister.

Watching you grow has been so fun and I love that you are a part of our family for forever. We're going camping in Kanab tomorrow since your dad signed up to run a 10k early Saturday morning that he hasn't trained for (let us all please pray for him!), which will be your first time spending the night out in the great outdoors, so I can't wait to see how that goes! That will definitely be an experience worth sharing. :)

Friday, May 13, 2016

We've made some really good friends here in Diamond Valley, the Roberts, and we are loving all the time we have been spending with them! They have 4 girls, two of which are very close in age to our 2 girls, so there's never a dull moment when we're all together. :) A few nights ago Amanda and I went out to their family's "cabin" (that is a mansion), hence the post name "Mabin." It sits on about 40 acres of alfalfa, has a cute duck pond and a little playground. We went out and took pictures of our girls and had a blast!

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Finnley Joan at 4 months old:

You are getting so chunky! You weigh 12.7 pounds, which puts you in the 28% for your weight. And you're 23.62in long, which puts you in the 26% for your length.

We have decided that you have the worst smellinggas for a baby. Your dad could totally blame his gas on you and I would believe him 100%. I know this is a little gross, but we want to document it to make sure we don't try to blame this memory on one of your siblings down the road when we can't really remember who it was. Haha :)You are starting to giggle more and more at random little things that we do, especially when Kennedy talks to you and acts silly. And you do this really adorable thing where you kinda hunch up your shoulders and put your hands up to your mouth/face when you get excited.You're starting to realize when I'm getting ready to nurse you and you start kicking your legs like crazy and make a laugh/cry kinda noise that's really cute and funny.

You've really started to enjoy playing with toys. This has been really nice since you haven't always been the biggest fan of being in your car seat; now we can give you a couple of toys while we're in the car and you're a happy camper!

You went to Disneyland for the first time (which you obviously won't remember) and you were such an awesome baby! I had you in my Solly Baby wrap the majority of the time and you were either sleeping, nursing or just hanging out, which has basically been the story of your life! You seem to have such a go-with-the-flow personality, which I hope you keep!Like I always say, we're so glad you're in our family! Our love for you grows each day.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

With Finnley being our new baby and getting a monthly post about her accomplishments, I realized that Kennedy deserved a little shout at for all of the things she's accomplishing and all of the joy she brings into our little family!She's obviously a big sister now, which is a job that she does not take lightly! She adores Finnley and I'd say the adoration goes both ways now. Finnley's face lights up when she sees Kennedy and she even giggles at Kennedy from time to time (sometimes even if Kennedy just looks at her) which melts my mother heart.

She is now potty trained! I seriously never thought this day would come! Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. :) We had a couple failed attempts before Finnley was born and since I had heard quite a few people say that toddlers will often regress in certain ways (potty training being one of them) I figured we'd try again after Finnley was born and the initial adjustment period was over. I also got a simple and short little book sent to me by a friend who has a little girl close in age to Kennedy and third attempt was a success! She was definitely ready and so were we. We started at the end of February/beginning of March and she's now at a point that she hasn't wet her bed in about a month! She has had an accident here and there, but it's usually because she's too busy playing with friends to tell us she needs to potty, so I've learned to try and make sure she tries to go every couple of hours or so.

She has come to love the horses that live out behind our new place! She'll climb up on the fence and they'll walk right over to her and let her pet them and feed them carrots and apples. :)

Kennedy is also a princess fanatic, which is so fun since she has been gifted 5 different princess outfits! We also went on a last minute trip to Disneyland with Cole's mom and younger sisters a couple of weeks ago and she seriously was in heaven when she got to meet some of the princesses. I seriously was crying tears of joy because of how excited she was.

And she definitely loves our 6 baby chicks. They run away from us when they're outside and see us coming, but Kennedy still chases after them and tries to catch them, which is pretty funny. However, she heard Cole and I calling them "stupid chickens" since they ate the leaves off of our tomato, and jalapeno plants (they've been living in the greenhouse while Cole builds them a coop) so I've now had to teach her to call them silly chickens instead of stupid chickens... Haha! :)

We sure love our little Kennedy Lou! She makes life a little crazy, but a really funny and happy. We couldn't imagine life without her little spunky self!